The
Iraqi
Community
Fun
Day
was
held
yesterday
(Saturday
10
January)
at
Svoboda
Park.

There
were rides,
activities,
fun
and
games
for
the
whole
family.

Six
members
of
the
Iraqi
national
football
team
turned
up
and
were
mobbed
by
excited
fans.

"Iraqi
Community
Fun
Day
is
an
opportunity
for
community
groups
to
come
together
and
celebrate
all
the
blessing
of
this
great
nation,"
event
organizer
and
AFC
Asian
Cup
Community
Ambassador,
Ali
Gafoor
told
CCN.

The CBC's
David Studer
explains the
CBC's
decision not
to broadcast
the
controversial
cartoons, a
decision
that many
viewers have
criticized
in the wake
of the
shooting
deaths at
Charlie
Hebdo
offices in
Paris.

STATEMENT -
GOLD COAST
ISLAMIC
SOCIETY

By Imam
Imraan
Husain

The Qur’an
says to the
Prophet
Muhammad,
God’s peace
and
blessings be
upon him,
“It is a
mercy from
your Lord
that you are
so gentle
toward them.
If you had
been harsh
and
hard-hearted,
people would
have fled
from your
presence”
(3:159).

The murder
of innocent
people in
Charlie
Hebdo,
France, is
barbaric,
criminal,
sinful,
inhumane,
disgusting
and
contravenes
the
teachings of
Islam as
agreed upon
by Muslim
scholars.

This
criminality
and
barbarism
does not
represent
Muslims or
Islam.

Such evil
behaviour is
nothing
short of
crimes
against
innocent
people by
some
overzealous
Muslims who
are bereft
of mercy.

There is no
disagreement
among
Muslims
scholars and
jurists,
past and
present,
regarding
the
prohibition
of the
killing of
innocent
people. This
is not an
opinion that
is subject
to
disagreement
and anyone
who
contravenes
this law has
committed a
grave sin
and broken
the sacred
and secular
laws.

This
criminal
conduct is
based upon
some
misguided
adherence to
the
teachings of
Islam, and
the Gold
Coast
Islamic
Society
condemns it
in the
strongest
possible
terms.

We must also
take
cognisance
that
provoking
people by
disrespecting
and
insulting
peoples'
beliefs and
values is
blasphemy.
And even for
those who
believe that
the penalty
for
blasphemy
should be
death: by
unanimous
consensus of
ALL the
scholars of
Islam, this
must take
place after
a legitimate
trial, by a
qualified
judge,
appointed by
a legitimate
Islamic
state. Under
NO
circumstances
does Islam
allow
vigilante
justice, for
to open this
door leads
to chaos,
confusion
and
bloodshed.

We offer our
sincerest
condolences
to the
families of
the victims
and pray for
them.

Muslims
Around The
World
Condemn
Charlie
Hebdo Attack

Muslims in
France and
around the
world banded
together on
Wednesday to
strongly
condemn the
deadliest
terror
attack the
country has
seen in the
past two
decades.

Three masked
gunmen
stormed the
Paris
offices of
Charlie
Hebdo, a
satirical
magazine
that has
become
notorious
for its
caricatures
of the
Prophet
Muhammad.
One of the
men
reportedly
shouted
“Allahu
akbar” as
they
unleashed a
barrage of
bullets that
left at
least twelve
dead.

Muslim
leaders and
activists
immediately
denounced
the
terrorists
actions,
reiterating
the verse in
the Quran
that tells
Muslims when
one kills
just one
innocent
person, it
is as if he
has killed
all of
humanity.

The Grand
Mosque of
Paris, one
of the
largest in
France,
issued a
statement on
its website
shortly
after the
attacks,
saying its
community
was
"shocked"
and
"horrified"
by the
violence.

We strongly
condemn
these kind
of acts and
we expect
the
authorities
to take the
most
appropriate
measures.
Our
community is
stunned by
what just
happened.
It’s a whole
section of
our
democracy
that is
seriously
affected.
This is a
deafening
declaration
of war.
Times have
changed, and
we are now
entering a
new era of
confrontation.

The Union of
Islamic
Organizations
of France
also
responded on
its website,
writing:

#JeSuisAhmed Reminds Us That A French Muslim Died To Protect Free Speech

On the heels of #JeSuisCharlie, another Twitter hashtag is becoming a rallying point on social media for those mourning the victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack -- #JeSuisAhmed.

The hashtag memorializes Ahmed Merabet, the 42-year-old police officer who was shot point blank on a Parisian street by masked gunmen outside Charlie Hebdo’s offices. He was among 12 people who lost their lives in what is being called the deadliest terror attack on French soil in more than 50 years.

French authorities have yet to assign an official motive to the group but many say the attack was an extremist reaction to the magazine’s lampooning of the Prophet Muhammad and other religious figures.

In the aftermath, hundreds around the globe began tweeting out with the hashtag #JeSuisCharlie to stand in solidarity with the magazine.

Attacks like the one in Paris are a matter of great sorrow for Muslims - first because the radicals use a barbaric appropriation of their faith, and then because of the alienation they feel in the West, writes Mohammed El-leissy.

There are 1.6 billion Muslims around the world and overwhelmingly they feel a sense of deep reverence for the Prophet Muhammad. He's a messenger from God who brought order and justice to a world in chaos; a light and teacher worthy of our undying honour and respect.

However, despite the attacks and mockery of his image across a number of media - most notably on social media and by prominent politicians - few Muslims would feel that the events in France are cause for any celebration or victory.

This is party because most Muslims feel the response by the gunmen is an assault on Muhammad and what he stood for. After all, Muhammad told his followers, "He who does not show mercy to our young and honour our elderly is not from amongst us" and proclaimed, "I was sent to complete the goodness of character".

The gunmen represent a barbaric political appropriation of this, and of a faith that is a source of spirituality and goodness for more than a billion people around the world. They are the greatest destroyers of Muhammad's message and the Islamic religion, in many cases causing Muslims to turn away from their faith.

Following the siege in Sydney, I was approached by a young Muslim woman who was beginning to question the existence of God, disheartened at just how extreme these fringe elements of her faith had become. Thanks to Haron Monis, she now felt disconnected from any positive role Islam had played in her life. The terrorists had soured Islam for her and the value of religion for millions more.

In addition, few Muslims would share any sympathy for the radicals, such as those who launched the attack on Charlie Hebdo, because they often commit far worse and more frequent violence against other Muslims.

Less than 24 hours before the attack in France, Islamist suicide bombers killed 38 Muslims outside a police academy in Yemen. In the Islamic world, hardline Islamist violence is seen as a criminal issue and terrorists are hunted down and often killed by police. Civilians that join the police force are frequently labelled as traitors and sell-outs to the Jihad by the extremists and police recruiting centres are a common target for suicide bombings.

Because Muslims worldwide are rejecting attempts by IS, Boko Haram and Al Qaeda to hijack Islam, these groups have turned their guns on fellow Muslims substantially more than on the West. From Pakistan to Nigeria, it's Muslim souls that the extremists are targeting.

However in the West, commentary in the media continues to accuse the world's Muslims of not condemning or doing enough to stop the terror and thus being complicit in violent jihad. This misinformed worldview simplistically pits this as Islam v the West, ignoring the despotic nature of this enemy and the fact that these extremists first and foremost wish to tyrannise and control their fellow Muslims.

For many Muslims, the Western media treats Muslim lives as somewhat less significant. The attacks in France received rolling coverage, but the attack in Yemen that killed many Muslim would-be policemen was relegated to the "World News" section. The Muslim victims are rarely given a face.

Similarly, the participation of Muslim majority nations in the coalition fighting Islamic State doesn't receive as much coverage as the efforts of the West. It's hard for the media to frame that war as a fight between "good and evil" when both sides are Muslim.

When non-Muslims are killed by radical Islamists, we talk about a clash of civilisations and ask "are Islam and the West compatible?" When Muslims are killed, we rationalise it as just stereotypical violence taking place in the third world.

This is not a war between Islamic and Western values - it's a war against a puritanical worldview that enforces itself with violence on the rest of us.

And Muslims have been fighting Islamic State with the pen as well as the sword - on the level of language, satire and ideas.

Many Muslims refuse to honour the terrorists with either the word "Islamic" or "state" and use instead a derogatory acronym, "DAESH". State of Superstition is an Iraqi TV sitcom that has the group firmly in its sights. And in Jordan the Orwellian sounding "Office of Mosque Surveillance" has outreach workers engaging with clergy to defeat IS with words and theology rather than bullets.

The majority of peaceful Muslims are caught in a tight wedge - the radicals know their actions will inflame anti-Muslim tensions and isolate many Muslims living in the West and hopefully push a few to their side. But as the West becomes more nuanced in its response and Muslims are finding their voice against Islamic State, there's a real hope that together we can deprive them of the blood bath they so desperately crave.

Mohammed El-leissy is a Melbourne-based community worker, comedian, and former youth worker at the Islamic Council of Victoria. View his full profile here.

A small but
noisy group
of
anti-Muslim
campaigners
are
targeting
Aussie
businesses
in their
obsessively
stupid
warfare
against
Australian
Muslims.

Despite
labelling
themselves
as hateriots
“patriots”,
their latest
strategic
move as they
rattle and
bob across
the media
landscape is
the
undermining
and trashing
of
Australian
small
business –
specifically
those
businesses
which want
to cater
both to
Australian
customers
and to
potential
markets in
our region.

No matter
that
Australia,
without the
trading
opportunities
available in
the Middle
East and the
Asia-Pacific
region, will
travel on
the road to
becoming an
isolated,
dull,
backward,
intolerant,
inward-looking
enclave of
the
suspicious,
the
xenophobic
and the
down-right
crackbrained.

Much like
this
run-down
white
supremacist
enclave in
South
Africa.

To
those
pig
ignorant
droogs
who shut
down a
South
Australian
business
because
it had
halal
certified
yoghurt
selling
to
Emirates
(Airlines)—what
stupid,
stupid
people!
If they
really
think
this
money
goes to
terrorists,
they
should
stop
buying
petrol
–
Malcolm
Farr
Political
Editor
News.com.au

Now here’s
ABC 7:30’s
report from
November
last year:
Why are
some
Australians
campaigning
against
Halal?

My name is
Widaad and I
am a
prospective
Graduate
Accountant.
I am
searching
for an
accounting
related job
that will
help me to
develop and
enhance my
skills,
while also
contributing
to the
success of
the company.

I have
graduated
with a
Bachelor of
Commerce and
am currently
undergoing
Bachelor of
Laws and the
Chartered
Tax Advisory
program.

I wish to
pursue
further
studies in
the future.

I have some
accounting
experience
already in
relation to
bank
reconciliations,
MYOB,
accounts
payable,
accounts
receivable
and GST.

I also have
skills in
administration,
data-entry
and customer
service.

It would be
preferable
for me to
get a
full-time or
part-time
job but I am
happy to
take even
volunteering
opportunities.
Please
contact me
if you have
or know of
any job
prospects.
My email
address is
widaad-m@live.com.

Mr Badawi will
reportedly be flogged weekly
until he has received 1,000
lashes

SAUDI ARABIA: A Saudi Arabian
blogger has been publicly flogged after
being convicted of cybercrime and insulting
Islam, reports say.

Raif Badawi, who was sentenced to 1,000
lashes and 10 years in jail, was flogged 50
times. The flogging will be carried out
weekly, campaigners say.

Mr Badawi, the co-founder of a now banned
website called the Liberal Saudi Network,
was arrested in 2012.

Rights groups condemned his conviction and
the US appealed for clemency.

On Thursday state department spokeswoman Jen
Psaki urged the Saudi authorities to "cancel
this brutal punishment" and to review his
case.

In addition to his sentence, Mr Badawi was
ordered to pay a fine of 1 million riyals
($266,000; £175,000).

In 2013 he was cleared of apostasy, which
could have carried a death sentence.

Last year Mr Badawi's lawyer was sentenced
to 15 years in prison after being found
guilty of a range of offences in an
anti-terrorism court, the Associated Press
news agency reported.

'Act of cruelty'

The flogging took place outside a mosque in
the Red Sea city of Jeddah after Friday
prayers, witnesses said.

AFP news agency, quoting people at the
scene, said Mr Badawi arrived at the mosque
in a police car and had the charges read out
to him in front of a crowd.

He was then made to stand with his back to
onlookers and whipped, though he remained
silent, the witnesses said.

The sentence was widely condemned by human
rights groups.

"The flogging of Raif Badawi is a vicious
act of cruelty which is prohibited under
international law," said Said Boumedouha of
Amnesty International.

"By ignoring international calls to cancel
the flogging Saudi Arabia's authorities have
demonstrated an abhorrent disregard for the
most basic human rights principles."

Saudi Arabia enforces a strict version of
Islamic law and does not tolerate political
dissent. It has some of the highest social
media usage rates in the region, and has
cracked down on domestic online criticism,
imposing harsh punishments.

Boys read
messages put up on the entrance
to a mosque in Uppsala by
neighbors pledging their support
on January 2, 2015. The mosque
suffered a firebomb attack on
January 1, one of three arson
attacks targeting the muslim
community in Sweden since
Christmas Day

SWEDEN: This is what it looks like when hate
is replaced with love.

A Swedish mosque was “lovebombed” this week,
after residents learned that it had become a
target for Islamaphobes.

The front door of a mosque in Uppsala in
eastern Sweden was covered in colorful paper
hearts Friday as Swedes across the country
rallied to show solidarity with their Muslim
brothers and sisters.
On Thursday, that same Uppsala mosque was
hit by a Molotov cocktail. A racist message
was also scrawled on its walls. No one was
injured, according to The Local. Police are
still searching for suspects.

The incident marked the third time such an
attack against a mosque took place between
Christmas and New Year’s. The Christmas Day
attack in Eskilstuna left five people
injured.

Omar Mustafa, chairman of the Islamic
Association in Sweden, told the Swedish news
agency TT that Uppsala’s mosque isn’t the
only one to get "lovebombed" in the wake of
the attacks.

"Each time there has been an attack, the
same mosque has then received a kind of
'love bomb' where people have shown their
support and sympathy,” Mustafa said in a
translation provided by Radio Sweden. “A
large part of the population is strongly
against this type of attacks and tomorrow we
will gather these good forces.”

Thousands of Swedes took part in solidarity
marches in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö
on Friday to protest the desecration of the
sacred spaces, according to Al Jazeera.

They joined together under the slogan “Don’t
Touch My Mosque.”

Ardalan Shekarabi, Sweden's
minister for public administration, said
that the country needed this kind of
outreach.

“We’re seeing a wave of Islamophobic
propaganda. It’s obvious that we have to
take a stand against Islamophobia and for
the equal value of every person. All people,
no matter what their faith, should feel safe
in Sweden,” the politician told Radio
Sweden.

According to the National
Physical Activity Alliance, at least 60% of us
don’t get enough exercise to gain a health
benefit.

Given physical inactivity is the fourth leading
risk factor for mortality and physical activity
is the second most important factor in disease
prevention, it is vital that we encourage each
other to become more active.

For optimum health advantages, it
is recommended that healthy adults do at least 2
and a half hours of moderate intensity or 75
minutes of vigorous cardiovascular exercise per
week.

Not only will you feel better,
you’ll score a whole lot of health benefits too.

The path to having a
beautiful garden or growing nutritious
vegetables, herbs and fruit is via a healthy
soil.

Learn how our healthy soils
declined, our gardens become more weed and
pest prone and how our food nutrition
declined so dramatically – for example
according to a CSIRO report between 1948 and
1981 food quality decreased dramatically?

For example the protein
content of butterbeans has declined by 88%
and the vitamin C content of apples has
decreased by 80%. Or according to Dr Mary
Cole you can now buy an orange today with 0%
Vitamin C?

Learn in a few simply and
clearly written articles how you can create
great soil in your garden, have a beautiful
more pest resistant garden and grow healthy,
nutritious plants.

1. All Islamic Event dates given above are tentative and
subject to the sighting of the moon.

2. The Islamic date changes to the next day starting in
the evenings after maghrib. Therefore, exceptfor Lailatul
Mehraj,
Lailatul Bhahraat
and
Lailatul Qadr – these dates refer to the commencement of the event
starting in the evening of the corresponding day.

2pm
Sunday 18 January
Location to be advised when contacted
Topic for January : Riba: what is it, what is the
punishment, how to avoid it in a western society
Please contact Ayesha on 0409 875 137 or
ayesha_lea@yahoo.com.au

IPDC

Lutwyche Mosque

Weekly classes with Imam Yahya

Monday: Junior Class
Tuesday: Junior Arabic
Friday: Adult Quran Class

For more information call 0470 671 109

Holland Park Mosque

All programs are conducted by Imam
Uzair Akbar

DAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

PROGRAM

Tafseer Program

Basics of Islam

Tafseer Program

AUDIENCE

Men

Ladies

TIME

after Maghrib Salat

Taleem Programe at Kuraby Mosque

Every Thursdays 10.30-11.30am

Bald Hills Mosque Weekly Tafseer

Day

Event

Time

Monday

Tafseer

after Isha

Tuesday

Dars Nizame (Urdu)

after Isha

Wednesday

Seerath

after Isha

Thursday

Dars Nizame (Urdu)

after Isha

Friday

Biyaan

after Isha

Sunday

Joula

after Maghrib

Sunday

Biyaan

after Isha

The Tafseer gets recorded and uploaded on to our website end
of each week, please visit our website to download these
recordings at
www.masjidtaqwa.org.au.

The Tuesday and Thursdays Dars Nizame program is in Urdu,
these sessions too are recorded as well as webcasted live.
For webcast details please contact us via our website
“contact us” page. The recordings are sent via a download
link, if you are interested please again contact us via our
website “contact us” page.

Articles and
opinions appearing in this newsletter do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of the Crescents of Brisbane Team, CCN,
its Editor or its Sponsors, particularly if they eventually
turn out to be libellous, unfounded, objectionable,
obnoxious, offensive, slanderous and/or downright
distasteful.

It is the usual policy of CCN to
include from time to time, notices of events that some
readers may find interesting or relevant. Such notices are
often posted as received. Including such messages or
providing the details of such events does not necessarily
imply endorsement of the contents of these events by either
CCN or Crescents of Brisbane Inc.

The best ideas
and the best feedback come from our community of readers. If you
have a topic or opinion that you want to write about or want
seen covered or any news item that you think might be of benefit
to the Crescents Community please e-mail ccn@crescentsofbrisbane.org.

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